Pupil Premium Plus

SCOPE OF THIS CHAPTER

This chapter applies to all Children Looked After. It should be read in conjunction with the government guidance documents and related chapters.

Note that different provisions apply to children who acquire Looked After status as a result of a remand to local authority accommodation or Youth Detention Accommodation. In relation to those children, please see Remands to Local Authority Accommodation or to Youth Detention Accommodation Procedure, Care Planning for Young People on Remand.

RELEVANT GUIDANCE

DfE, Promoting the Education of Looked After and Previously Looked After Children

RELATED CHAPTER

Virtual School Procedure

AMENDMENT

This chapter was reviewed and updated in December 2022.

Pupil Premium Plus (PP+) funding is allocated to support Children Looked After (CLA) from reception age to Year 11 to help them to achieve their full educational potential, to develop aspirations and to achieve their goals. The Department for Education (DfE) allocates each Local Authority Pupil Premium funding each financial year for every school aged CLA. In 2022/23 the amount allocated is £2345 per pupil.

The regulations state that the grant allocation for CLA must be managed by the designated Virtual School Head (VSH) in the authority that looks after those children to be used for the benefit of the Child Looked After's educational needs as described in their Personal Education Plan (PEP). The VSH should ensure there are arrangements in place to discuss with the child's education setting – usually with the designated teacher – how the child will benefit from any pupil premium plus funding.

Distribution of the PP+ fund is managed by the Virtual School with the Virtual School. For 2020/21 the Knowsley process is as follows:

  1. £650 will be allocated to schools for each Knowsley CLA in September 2022;
  2. In order for a further £645 per term to be released, designated teachers will be asked to provide the following four elements for each Knowsley CLA:
    • An up-to-date Personal Education Plan each term;
    • Pupil attainment data for each term of the school year (recorded in the PEP);
    • End of year targets (recorded in the PEP);
    • An overview/breakdown of the planned interventions/support to be provided through PP+ funding during each term (recorded in the PEP).
    On receipt of all of the above elements funding will be released to schools to support CLA for the remainder of the academic year. Further information and guidance will be provided for designated teachers at the beginning of each academic year.
  3. The Virtual School will retain £400 per CLA in order to contribute to system wide developments and support for CLA. This will include provision of training for professionals, enrichment activities for CLA, Educational Psychology assessment etc;
  4. Post 16 providers/social workers will be able to apply for funding to support the education of CLA aged 16 and over;
  5. Social workers and schools will be required to work in close partnership in order to meet the requirements for the allocation of funding. Funding will be withheld from schools if any of the elements in point 2 (above) are not provided and CLA may be disadvantaged as a result. In particular the social worker and designated teacher must meet the legal requirements around the PEP (see The Personal Education Plan (PEP)).
  6. Information on Pupil premium for Early Years CLA is included in the Knowsley Early Years chapter, Knowsley Early Years Service Procedure.

For any support or guidance around Pupil Premium Plus, please contact a member of the Virtual School.